For reference, the emergency price drop for the Nintendo 3DS from $249 to $169 took all of five months (March to August 2011), and while I wouldn't hold my breath for anything that drastic, some urgent measures in the post-launch period are not out of the question if the negative perceptions from the presentation stick through the weekend. One potential point of flexibility, and I admit this is what I've crossed my fingers for, is for a revision of their online strategy during the "trial period" before anyone has put their money down.
The precedent of the 3DS cut does give me pause and make me wonder if I should stick with Zelda for the Wii U, especially if I mean to play little else in the early months. But how many consumers enticed by the Switch are aware of that history? (The kind dedicated enough to own a Wii U, sure, but that's a fraction of the market.)
The rumour mill certainly did the device a grave disservice by planting in everyone's heads an expectation of $249. I know that was already the upper limit for many people going in, especially those among you who are multiple console owners and considering the Switch as a secondary, but if you believed $299 to be likely from the start, that isn't the source of disappointment nearly as much as some of the other concerns.